1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat air conditioning system installed in a vehicle seat.
2. Description of Related Art
Various vehicle seat air conditioning systems have been proposed. For example, one vehicle seat air conditioning system is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-152849. In the disclosed seat air conditioning system, a blower unit is placed inside or outside a cushion member of a vehicle seat, and an air discharge duct of the blower unit is directly inserted into an air intake passage section formed in the cushion member.
In the disclosed seat air conditioning system, as described above, the air discharge duct is directly inserted into the air intake passage section of the cushion member. Thus, when the blower unit is driven to rotate, vibrations of the blower unit are likely conducted to the cushion member. The conduction of vibrations of the blower unit to the cushion member disadvantageously causes deterioration in comfortable seating of an occupant seated in the seat.
Another vehicle seat air conditioning system has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-370517. In this vehicle seat air conditioning system, a blower unit is mounted to seat spring members, each of which is made of a wire spring. The blower unit discharges conditioning air toward small air discharge openings of a surface cover member of a vehicle seat.
In this instance, the seat spring members are held between a casing of the blower unit and a separate connector bracket via felt components.
In the vehicle seat, a cushion member made of a urethane resin material is provided on a backside of the surface cover member, and the seat spring members are provided on a backside of the cushion member. Furthermore, the cushion member is resiliently supported by the seat spring members. Thus, the connector bracket is arranged between the cushion member and the seat spring members. In the above described Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-370517, the connector bracket is engaged with the cushion member.
When an occupant is seated in the seat, compressive force is applied to the cushion member by the weight of the occupant. Thus, the compressive force is also applied to the felt components, which are provided around the seat spring members, through the cushion member, so that the spring constant of each felt component is increased. Therefore, the vibration damping performance of each felt component is reduced. Therefore, vibrations, which are induced by operation of the blower unit, are conducted to the occupant through the cushion member, causing uncomfortable feeling of the occupant.